Marcus Roberts
Pianist Peter Martin gets the weekend going Thursday night with a free concert at Washington University as part of the Jazz at Holmes series. Martin is a U. City native who currently serves as music director for vocalist Dianne Reeves. He's a fine player, and the chance to hear him perform for free is definitely one of the week's highlights.
Also on Thursday, vocalist Erin Bode begins a three-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro to promote her new CD Over and Over, which will be release next Tuesday on the MAXJAZZ label. Saxophonist Seamus Blake, who guest-stars on the record alongside Bode's regular working group, will be flying in from New York for these dates.
If that weren't enough for one night, Thursday is also when Tim Ries' Rolling Stones Project comes to Finale for two shows. A:though the idea of doing jazz versions of Rolling Stones tunes may seem a bit incongruous, Ries' CD has actually received some pretty good reviews in the jazz press. However, it was an all-star laden affair, featuring guest performances from all of the Stones except Mick Jagger, plus the likes of Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Bill Frisell and John Scofield. Of course, the Stones are kinda busy with their own tour - in fact, they're here in St. Louis the next night, playing a sold out show at the Savvis Center - and it seems much more likely that the touring version of the Project will contain capable session players (like Ries, who's toured as the Stones and many others as saxman-for-hire) than platinum-selling headliners.
On Saturday, pianist Marcus Roberts brings his trio to the Sheldon Concert Hall. Roberts is probably best known for his assocaition with Wynton Marsalis, and technically speaking, he's a monster on the keys, a true virtuoso who can play pretty much anything he can think. For some reason, Roberts' playing on recordings has always left me just a bit cold; maybe it's because, like Marsalis, he seems often to look more towards the history of jazz rather than its future. Perhaps he'll turn up the heat and cast off some of that musty historicism in a live situation.
Closing out the weekend, oboist and electronic musician Kyle Bruckmann rolls into town Sunday night for a concert sponsored by New Music Circle and held at Christman Studios. Before moving to San Francisco, Bruckmann was part of the sprawling Chicago improv scene, where he collaborated with musicians such as Jeb Bishop, Michael Zerang and other familiar names. I have no idea what his music sounds like, but then that's part of the fun of this sort of show, right?
As usual, much more can be found in the St. Louis Jazz Notes calendar. And if you're a musician, presenter or venue who'd like to get your event listed in said calendar, and perhaps mentioned in the weekly highlights post as well, please email the relevant information to stljazznotes at yahoo dot com.
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